U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2010 Jun;20(4):351-8. doi: 10.1038/jes.2009.20. Epub 2009 Apr 15.
Communities are faced with challenges in identifying and prioritizing environmental issues, taking actions to reduce their exposures, and determining their effectiveness for reducing human health risks. Additional challenges include determining what scientific tools are available and most relevant, and understanding how to use those tools; given these barriers, community groups tend to rely more on risk perception than science. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and collaborators are developing and applying tools (models, data, methods) for enhancing cumulative risk assessments. The NERL's "Cumulative Communities Research Program" focuses on key science questions: (1) How to systematically identify and prioritize key chemical stressors within a given community?; (2) How to develop estimates of exposure to multiple stressors for individuals in epidemiologic studies?; and (3) What tools can be used to assess community-level distributions of exposures for the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk reduction strategies? This paper provides community partners and scientific researchers with an understanding of the NERL research program and other efforts to address cumulative community risks; and key research needs and opportunities. Some initial findings include the following: (1) Many useful tools exist for components of risk assessment, but need to be developed collaboratively with end users and made more comprehensive and user-friendly for practical application; (2) Tools for quantifying cumulative risks and impact of community risk reduction activities are also needed; (3) More data are needed to assess community- and individual-level exposures, and to link exposure-related information with health effects; and (4) Additional research is needed to incorporate risk-modifying factors ("non-chemical stressors") into cumulative risk assessments. The products of this research program will advance the science for cumulative risk assessments and empower communities with information so that they can make informed, cost-effective decisions to improve public health.
社区在识别和优先考虑环境问题、采取行动减少暴露以及确定减少人类健康风险的有效性方面面临挑战。其他挑战包括确定可用的和最相关的科学工具，以及了解如何使用这些工具；由于这些障碍，社区团体往往更多地依赖风险感知而不是科学。美国环境保护署研究与开发办公室、国家暴露研究实验室 (NERL) 及其合作者正在开发和应用工具（模型、数据、方法）以加强累积风险评估。NERL 的“累积社区研究计划”侧重于关键科学问题：(1) 如何在给定社区内系统地识别和优先考虑关键化学压力源？；(2) 如何为流行病学研究中的个人开发和估计多种压力源的暴露量？；以及 (3) 可以使用哪些工具来评估社区层面的暴露分布，以制定和评估减少风险策略的有效性？本文为社区合作伙伴和科学研究人员提供了对 NERL 研究计划和其他解决累积社区风险的努力的理解；以及关键的研究需求和机会。一些初步发现包括：(1) 风险评估的许多有用工具已经存在，但需要与最终用户合作开发，并使其更加全面和用户友好，以进行实际应用；(2) 还需要用于量化累积风险和社区减少风险活动影响的工具；(3) 需要更多的数据来评估社区和个人层面的暴露，并将与暴露相关的信息与健康影响联系起来；以及 (4) 需要进一步研究将风险修正因素（“非化学压力源”）纳入累积风险评估。该研究计划的成果将推进累积风险评估科学，并为社区提供信息，使他们能够做出明智、具有成本效益的决策，以改善公共健康。
